


BLIND DATE

by tardis_mole



Category: Broadchurch
Genre: F/M, Humour
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2019-03-17 17:50:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13664157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tardis_mole/pseuds/tardis_mole
Summary: Summary: Hardy is sitting in the restaurant awaiting his date for the evening. He is in for a shock.





	BLIND DATE

**Author's Note:**

> Legal Stuff: No money, goods or services have been exchanged for this story. No breach of copyright is intended. The original work and it's characters are owned by the production companies, authors and scriptwriters. I'm just borrowing them for my own amusement and the entertainment of my readers. I will return them when they tire of me; the characters that is. My readers are non-negotiable.
> 
> ***** DO NOT COPY, SAVE, REPOST OR SHARE THIS WORK. ***** Doing so constitutes stealing under the Theft Act 1968.
> 
> Author’s notes: Spoiler Alert! Set during Season 3.
> 
> broadchurch, episode-verse a/u, hardy/miller, rated t

BLIND DATE 

Date: 26 March 2017

Author: Tardis Mole

Genre: Broadchurch

Rating: T

Pairings/Characters: Hardy/Miller. The Superintendent. DC Katie Hardford.

Warnings: Choking hazard.

Summary: Hardy is sitting in the restaurant awaiting his date for the evening. He is in for a shock.

Legal Stuff: No money, goods or services have been exchanged for this story. No breach of copyright is intended. The original work and it's characters are owned by the production companies, authors and scriptwriters. I'm just borrowing them for my own amusement and the entertainment of my readers. I will return them when they tire of me; the characters that is. My readers are non-negotiable.

***** DO NOT COPY, SAVE, REPOST OR SHARE THIS WORK. ***** Doing so constitutes stealing under the Theft Act 1968.

Author’s notes: Spoiler Alert! Set during Season 3.

broadchurch, episode-verse a/u, hardy/miller, rated t

ĐĐ

Hardy stepped into the incident room, donning a fresh jacket over a fresh shirt, talking almost before he had even seen the person he was addressing.

“I’ve received urgent authority from the Superintendent for surveillance on our friend, Aaron Mayfield,” he addressed the new recruit. “You and Steven need to get down to his house until a surveillance team can be organised.”

DC Katie Harford was sitting at her desk, which backed Ellie’s, her face impassive as always. No one particularly liked her all that much. She questioned every order and action of her superiors, she questioned everything, even when it was obvious why something needed to be done. She never showed any emotion, either.

“After that, get all the background information on him,” Hardy concluded.

“Any reason for this?” she asked.

Ellie tried very hard not to roll her eyes.

Hardy’s expression hardened. “Erm… Because it’s standard procedure? Because I ordered you to do it? How about ‘because I don’t like him’?” he suggested. “Whichever one you choose, get it done. Besides which, we rattled his cage earlier,” he added, nodding his head towards Ellie. “So, I want to know what he does and where he goes.”

Ellie looked at her, waiting for yet another pointless question, but there wasn’t one. That had to be a first. She was glad she was sitting down, otherwise she might have fallen down with surprise.

Katie got to her feet. “All right. I’ll let you know.”

Ellie waited for her to leave before lifting her gaze up to Hardy. She, unlike Katie, had an ulterior motive for keeping her face impassive. Hardy was pacing, visibly nervous and it was obvious that he was up to something. She saw him glance again at the clock on the wall. It was still the same time - 7:45 - as it was the last time he’d looked, and she was just itching to say something. But she kept her face neutral as he turned back unexpectedly.

“Right. Erm...”

Ellie’s amusement went up three notches, but she didn’t dare smile. Not yet.

“I’m away,” he announced. “You should be, too. Take an evening off. Have a breather.” Satisfied that was all he needed to say, he walked off.

“You all right?” she asked evenly.

He turned back in surprise.

“It’s not like you; clocking off after only twelve hours. Got something planned?”

Hardy shook his head. “No. Not at all.”

She wasn’t fooled by his attempt to look innocent and now she couldn’t keep the smile in. “Oh,” she said, widening the smile to a grin. “Ok. Have a nice night.” She folded her arms and sat back in her seat. “Doing whatever it is you’re not doing.”

Hardy gave her a look, but shelved whatever it was that came to mind for him to say in response, and walked out.

Ellie, with her full grin out from ear to ear, turned to her colleagues standing behind her by the next desk over, to find them also amused.

“The office pool says he’s got a date,” Anna spoke.

Ellie was glad to see a familiar face when she was reinstated. It had taken six months, but a year after Danny’s murder she had returned to Broadchurch CID. Hardy had returned a few weeks after he had left and was there to welcome her back. Which was nice.

“Which would match his nerves,” Ellie agreed. “Did anyone bet on how long it would last?”

Several people laughed.

She glanced at her watch and got to her feet. “Got to make a move. See you tomorrow, everyone.”

“Bye,” a chorus responded.

“Good luck,” Anna added.

Ellie gave her a nervous grin.

Twenty minutes later, she stood in a tiny toilet cubicle, shimmying into a slim white dress with magnolia blossoms splashed across one side. Stuffing her folded work clothes into her bag, she opened the door and went to the mirror to check her hair and makeup. She gave herself a silent nod of approval and left the toilets.

ĐĐ

Hardy sat at a table for two, but alone, in a restaurant. He tried not to keep looking at his watch to check the time. She said she would be here at eight but; it was now gone eight. Three minutes past eight. He wondered how late he should allow her to be before deciding that she wasn’t coming. He tried not to keep fiddling nervously. Pacing the room would have been very bad indeed, not to mention obvious. He thought he was succeeding on both counts, but his nerves were not under his control.

He had picked a posh restaurant in Broadchurch, thinking it was less likely to be frequented by anyone he knew, and thus negating the possibility of being recognised. So, if he was stood-up, no one at work would be any the wiser. Although, he doubted much got passed his colleagues. He realised it might have been better if he had picked a venue in Bridport. His being in a restaurant at all was his daughter’s fault.

With his arms crossed on the table, he looked around him at the décor of the place. It looked pleasant enough and there was no annoying music. And, more importantly, no one there that he recognised. Distracted, he didn’t see a waiter step through the entryway with a woman in tow. The waiter indicated the table she was booked at and then left her to it. The woman approached Hardy’s table.

“Really sorry I’m late,” she said, hurrying forward.

Hardy looked up, startled from his thoughts and shot to his feet. “Miller?”

Ellie’s face blanched and she sank in her shoes. “What are you doing here?”

“What are you doing here?” he countered.

“Well, this is my table,” she replied.

“Your table?”

They gaped at each other for a long second.

“Oh god. This is embarrassing,” she noted and psyched herself up. “I’m here on a date. You?”

Hardy nodded. “Same,” he admitted. “I’m waiting for someone called Eleanor Houton.”

Ellie gulped dryly. “Well, that’s... That’s me. Maiden name,” she added by way of explanation. “You must have known it was me. My picture?”

He shook his head. “No. I erm... I didn’t actually choose... Someone chose for me,” he revealed.

“Oh. Great. Always nice to know.”

“Sorry.”

Ellie’s eyes dipped over what he was wearing. “And you’re still in a suit. Do you have anything to wear other than suits?”

“Erm,” He looked down at himself self-consciously. “Would you rather I turned up in nothing at all?”

“No! No. You turned up. That’s the best I’ve had so far,” she revealed.

They looked at each other nervously for another long moment before Hardy indicated to the chair opposite his.

“Look. It’s been a long day. I’m hungry, so you must be. Please,” he said.

She plonked herself in the chair, feeling awkward. “I shouldn’t. This is really...”

Hardy passed her one of the two menus that had been left on the table by the waiter. “It would be worse if we left now. Especially after all the trouble we went to, to make bios on a dating site. I bet everyone at the station knows.”

Ellie tried to hide a cringe, still gripping the shoulder strap of her bag. “I can’t deny that. What did you go on a dating site for, anyway?”

“Why did you?” he countered.

Ellie looked ashamed, but supposed she deserved that.

“Drink?”

“Erm...” She thought for a second. “I dunno. White wine.” She gave another furtive glance around the room and since no one seemed to be taking any interest in her or Hardy she shifted her chair a little closer to the table. “Look. Bit weird. But this isn’t going to work.”

Hardy stared at her. “I feel affronted by that. You hardly even know me.”

“I know you from work.”

“That’s a different ball game, Miller. Besides. It’s dinner. Food. And don’t talk about work.” He looked at her for a moment and sighed gently. “Nervous?”

“Well, I was, until I realised that it was you.”

His expression pinched. “I’ll take that to mean you’re no longer nervous. And since you haven’t asked. Yes, I’m nervous,” he added honestly.

Ellie was surprised. “Men don’t normally say that.”

“Don’t they? How do you know that? Dated many?”

“No. It’s just that men tend not to talk about their emotions. Especially you.”

“Well, at work I don’t. It’s easier to deal with what we face every day that way. But this is dating. I’m finding this all a bit daunting.”

Ellie coughed a nervous laugh, not quite trusting the surreal nature of what was going on. She shuffled her chair closer to the table, and tried to look at ease with the situation. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

“Neither can I. Me; stick-in-the-mud; dating.”

Ellie coughed another laugh. “Nice to know we’re thinking the same thing. Sort of. What made you choose a dating website?”

Hardy shook his head. “My daughter’s idea. She helped me out with the profile.”

Ellie nodded understandingly. “Same here. Well, son. But you do realise that your profile isn’t exactly accurate?”

Hardy was astonished. “You read my profile?”

“Yeah. And it doesn’t mention your daughter.”

“It doesn’t?”

“No.”

“Oh. Sorry. I’ll have to put that right. I mean, my daughter set me up.”

“Yep. She really did.”

Hardy chuckled softly. Which put Ellie a little more at ease and made her laugh.

“A bit ridiculous, isn’t it?”

“Just a bit,” she agreed. “So, what made you pick me?”

“As I say, I didn’t. Daisy picked three candidates - she called them candidates - and I checked the names, to make sure I didn’t recognise any of them and she sent the invitations.”

“So, you really didn’t check the profiles first? Or pick for looks or personality?”

“I really have no idea what her criteria were,” he admitted. “Other than getting me a girlfriend, and hopefully a wife at the end of it.”

“Well, that’ll go down well,” Ellie noted disparagingly. “You; marrying a former suspect’s ex-wife? Talk about taking your work home with you.”

There was an awkward silence.

“Erm,” he fumbled for something to break the uncomfortable situation. “I don’t think of you like that,” he told her kindly. “I actually think of you as a friend.”

“That’s nice,” she accepted, giving him a one-second smile.

“You look really nice, by the way.”

Ellie smiled a more confident smile. “Thank you.”

Hardy cleared his throat, wondering if he hadn’t overdone that. Friend or not, and she hadn’t said much on that matter, she was still a colleague.

“You don’t look so bad yourself,” she complimented.

He was instantly surprised and frowned. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t think of me as ‘sh*tface’, then?”

“No. Never have. No. I mean, I thought you looked drained when we first met, but after the failure of Sandbrook I kind of thought you deserved to look like that.”

Hardy looked awkward.

“At the time,” she added. “And then I found out about your heart and that made more sense. Brian still doesn’t know about that, by the way.”

Hardy nodded. “Thanks for the clarification.” He drew in a deep breath. “Not sure if it would improve matters or simply add fuel to them, if it was common knowledge. Shall we eat? I’m particularly ravenous now.”

Ellie smiled more easily. “Oh? So, you were hungry earlier. Just didn’t like the company?”

“Actually, if I’m going to be honest with you, and I think I should be, then... I like your company. I like working with you.”

“Whoa. That’s huge. Coming from you.”

Hardy almost smiled across the table at her. And took a longer look at her very becoming dress, noticing her doing the same of his suit. Again. “I think we should take a look at the menu,” he suggested.

Ellie tore her eyes away and picked up the menu he had given her.

Hardy took another long look at her, wondering if he should continue this as a real date or down grade it to dinner between friends because they happened to be passing by the restaurant. He silently decided to play it by ear. Secretly, he was utterly elated that it turned out to be Ellie and not a total stranger. It helped his nerves no end. On the other hand, this could go very badly if it failed.

“We’ll just say this wasn’t a date, if it’ll make you more comfortable,” she suggested, somewhat out of the blue.

He blinked at her. “I’m comfortable with this being a date.”

“Oh... I’m not,” she told him. “To be honest.”

“Can you forget work, forget we work together and just be yourself?” he wondered. “You don’t know me and I don’t know you. We’re sharing a meal and at the end of the night we go home. No strings. Nothing. Does that work?”

Ellie nodded. “I can do that,” she agreed. “How about the Lamb? Sounds nice.”

“I think I’ll go for the pork,” he decided. “I’m not good at making that at home, so I’ll have someone else make it for me.”

“Tastes better when someone else is cooking,” she joked.

Finally, he relaxed enough to consider enjoying the evening.

ĐĐ

An hour later, as they finished their desserts, Ellie was surprised to discover how little she actually knew about DI Hardy. And she had shared a few details about herself that no one in work knew. She also discovered that they had similar likes and dislikes and several common interests.

“It’s a bit weird,” she voiced at length. “We get on well.”

“Don’t sound so surprised,” he said. “We work well together.”

“Yeah, but that’s work. Work and home are like different planets.”

He nodded in agreement. “Yeah, we do get on well. Not like it was three years ago. You really didn’t like me back then,” he remembered.

“And you were a lonely knob.”

He nodded and let go of a breath. “I was. And still hurting. You were kind to me. That said a lot about you as a person. And I wanted you to like me.”

“Yeah. I got that impression. It took a while. But in the end, you were the only one I could turn to. And when I came back, you were kind to me. So, we’re even.”

Hardy nodded a little. “You’re right. It is a bit weird.” After a moment, he added, “So was this a date or just a meal?”

“Date,” she replied instantly, and then instantly changed it. “No. Not a date. A not-a-date-date.”

“If word of this gets back to the station... we could both be in trouble.”

“Regulations,” she agreed with a nod

“No. Not unless this goes somewhere and we act on it while on duty. I meant with our colleagues. Especially those running the office betting pool.”

Ellie was shocked. “You know about that?”

“I wouldn’t be a good DI if I missed the obvious,” he pointed out.

“No, but... Oh, this is embarrassing,” she realised. “I thought they were being really careful in keeping it well hidden. They had one about me last week.”

“The one that said you fancied me? I put a tenner on it.”

Ellie blanched. “You arrogant knob!” she hissed. 

“I’ll still win the pool,” he voiced. “Everyone else bet against.”

“You’re assuming that I fancy you.”

“It’s not a wild assumption to make, much less a false one,” he told her confidently. He watched her cheeks turn pink and was amused.

Ellie saw him smile at her for the first time in the three years she had known him. It took years off him, and she instantly wanted to see that more often. She suddenly realised she was staring and tore her gaze away. “I neither deny nor confirm your arrogant assumption,” she grumbled.

“Well, that’s more telling than a ‘no comment’,” he said, his smile widening.

Ellie cleared her throat, trying not to laugh, and looked at her watch. “I better get home. Best if we left separately,” she decided, and stood up to leave.

He smiled affably. “Shall I walk you home?”

“Ye-no. Absolutely not. Tongues will wag.”

“No, they won’t. People will assume we’re working,” he assured her. “Second date?”

“No. Yes. No. It’s not a date. Better not. I’ll think about it. See you in the morning.”

“Goodnight, Ellie.”

ĐĐ

After bumping into each other on their way home, they were suddenly called upon to follow up on a new lead for their current case. A match had been found for a possible suspect, which needed immediate action. Taking Jim Atwood to the station, they handed him over to the Duty Officer for processing and made their way up to the incident room for a more detailed update.

The lift doors opened and the Superintendent was standing in the corridor, waiting for them. She looked them both in the eye in stony silence and barked just three words.

“My office. Now.”

Hardy and Ellie glanced at each other and both sank in their shoes. Feeling guilty - although they had no idea what they were supposed to be feeling guilty for, they both had their suspicions - they both followed their superior officer through the incident room to her office on the far side. Once inside her office, she closed the door and set upon them at once.

“What were you thinking?!” she began sternly, rounding her desk to face them. “Both of you are experienced officers, both of you know the regulations backwards, and both of you have been before the IPCC, so you know what I am about to say. I am thoroughly disappointed that you seem to need reminding of a basic rule by which all officers are expected to work!”

“Sir?” Hardy began. “Has there been a complaint?”

“No. And you can thank god there hasn’t!” she responded.

“Then, what are we being accused of, exactly?” he asked, slightly confused.

“I was in the bar at the Quayside Restaurant, and I saw both of you at a table. By appearances, you seemed to be on a date.” She looked from one to the other, expecting an explanation.

“Well, initially it was,” Hardy admitted. “It was a blind date. My daughter set it up, and she didn’t know Miller’s off-duty name. And frankly, neither did I, otherwise I would never have agreed to meet her,” he said. “However, I would like to add in my defence, and Miller’s, that the fraternisation rule only applies while the officers are on duty. We weren’t on duty. I clocked off at 7:43pm.”

“And I clocked off at 7:47pm,” Ellie put in. “And I had no way of knowing who had sent the invite. It was a shock to find DI Hardy sitting there. And since neither of us had eaten much since breakfast, we decided to eat anyway.”

“What did you talk about?” the Super asked.

“Everything except work,” Ellie replied. “We both agreed that it would end there; no talking about it afterwards; no second date. And we left separately.”

“That is almost accurate,” Hardy put in. “We didn’t agree on ‘no second date’, since we had already agreed that dinner tonight was not a date. It was simply dinner.”

“Yeah, sorry,” Ellie agreed.

“So, you are not seeing each other outside work?”

“No,” they both said at once.

“And there has been no impropriety between you while working together?”

“No,” they both replied again.

“In that case, would either of you care to explain this?”

She opened a drawer in her desk and took out a pad of paper, which had been hanging up in the incident room before now. And on it was written the words ‘Ellie fancies Hardy’, beneath which several names had been written in various handwriting styles, each followed by a number.

Both Hardy and Ellie swallowed dryly.

“Erm... Well, that’s weird,” Ellie spoke, feigning surprise. Though it wasn’t much of a feign, in truth. Except that the Superintendent had it, where as it had been partially hidden behind the spider plant the last time she’d seen it. And, embarrassingly, Hardy’s name and his £10 bet was scrawled at the bottom of the sheet.

“That’s just a bit of fun,” Hardy dismissed. “Whoever wins or if there’s no winner, the money goes to charity and a round at the local. Sometimes, during a hard day, you need to unwind and have a laugh. There’s no harm done.” He turned his head towards Ellie. “Is there?”

“No. At least, not on my part. The pool goes around everyone eventually. It just happened to be my turn. I didn’t even know about it until after the others had done it. A bit embarrassing, really, so I ignored it. I’ve had worse. And it’s been a welcome relief, what with the difficult case we’ve got on, at the moment. As DI Hardy said, there’s no harm done or meant by it.”

“As I see it, if DS Miller and I were to see each other outside work, as long as it does not impede on our work, then we are still within the bounds of the police regulations,” Hardy remarked. “Regardless, whether the grounds for the bet is true or not is a matter of speculation and not to be taken seriously. It was pure coincidence that we ended up at the same restaurant and then at the same table. Is there a matter that we have overlooked or been at fault with?”

The Superintendent eyed them both for a long moment. “Very well. I’m satisfied that you haven’t broken any police regulations. I will note this as bad timing. Top Brass, on the other hand, may not be so generous.”

Ellie and Hardy nodded in understanding.

“But I shall be keeping an eye on you both. One toe out of line and I shall ignore your protestations of ‘blind’ date and investigate possible fraternisation while on duty. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir,” they both replied.

“You can go,” she said and sat down. “How is the case coming along?” she added, just as they reached for the door.

“We’ve brought in a suspect identified through DNA evidence,” Hardy replied.

“Good. And how did the date go?”

“Well, it wasn’t a date. It was just dinner,” Ellie replied instantly. “But if DI Hardy and I did go on a date, with respect, we wouldn’t be discussing it during work. Our private lives and work lives are quite separate.”

The Superintendent considered this and nodded, impressed. “Keep it that way.”

ĐĐ

Hardy and Ellie took the stairs down to the interview rooms in contemplative silence.

“What do you think that was really about?” Ellie asked softly.

“I think it was curiosity.”

“About what?”

“To find out if the rumours were true.”

Ellie frowned. “What rumours? That I fancy you? That isn’t a rumour. It was an office bet.” She noticed his look. “What rumour?” she added.

He looked at her in surprise. “You haven’t heard?”

“No.”

He opened the door for her. “Apparently, I’ve been caught in a compromising position with you in the cells.”

Ellie looked horrified. “That’s ridiculous! Not to mention disgusting. Who started that? I am so going to kick him in the balls!”

Hardy wiped the smirk off his face and pressed his tag to the door lock to gain entry. Ellie stepped through the door and he followed.

“Is that why the pool was started?”

“I presume so.”

“The Super didn’t mention that. And you never said anything at dinner, either.”

“Well, there’s no CCTV evidence.”

“So how did you know about it, but I didn’t?”

“I was walking behind two uniforms and overheard them.”

“Names?” she demanded.

“No. You’ll kick them in the balls,” he defended. “Besides, when they turned around and saw me... they looked as if they’d just returned from the blood donor van.”

“You should have taken your phone out and taken a picture of their faces.”

“I didn’t think of it,” he conceded and then noted her amusement.

“Aw, that would have been a fun picture to see,” she grinned.

He chuckled. “Naw, I think I scared them enough to stop the rumour in its tracks. So. Thought about that second date?”

“First date,” she reminded him.

“First date, then.”

“Yes.”

“And?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” He dropped the subject and strode away. “Come on, Miller. Let’s see what Mr. Atwood has to say for himself.”

ĐĐ

Completed


End file.
